Diary of Fragile Heart (Spin of Loving You Too Long)

The roar of children’s laughter and shouts was so loud it echoed into the outer area outside the orphanage’s fence. A woman with dark glasses could be seen gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white. She gazed at the figures she recognized there, laughing happily. As for herself? She was shattered. Finished. She had nothing left in life to boast about anymore.

Yes. She was Phoebe.

A month had passed since that night. The night when she and her mother left Gladwin’s house with all the evidence in hand.

Satisfied? Yes, initially she was satisfied and thought all the evidence was gone when she destroyed it by burning. Even then, she immediately contacted her associate at the clinic to shut down the clinic where they had been accumulating their wealth because she was afraid Gladwin would take drastic action and report her to the police.

Of course, the man wouldn’t just sit still, would he? He would certainly seek revenge on her, especially since she had been ruining his happiness all this time.

And then, somehow everything happened so quickly. Her father was arrested for being caught as a receiver of stolen cars. What surprised Phoebe was that the informant was none other than the person who had been close to her all this time. Who else but Deryl.

The moment of her father’s arrest, the man divorced her. He cursed her after finding out that Gisel-whom Phoebe had claimed as her own all this time-was another man’s child. He was furious and went straight to the police station, bringing all the evidence he had secretly collected about her father. Then the man also accused her father of being a pimp and making his own child a victim.

And Phoebe? She was forced to go in and out of the police station every time she was summoned to testify.

She didn’t want to lie anymore. She disclosed all the facts to the investigators. After all, she didn’t want her name to end up in the news and tarnish her reputation. Meanwhile, her mother? The old woman could only blame her. She said that Phoebe was an ungrateful child who had put her father in prison.

So what should Phoebe do? The fact was that her father had indeed sold her to men with spotted noses out there.

And when Phoebe thought that it was all over. Truly over. Another surprise awaited her. The clinic she had asked to be closed down was still secretly operating by her associate. Unfortunately, the police caught wind of their wrongdoing.

Someone Phoebe didn’t know reported her to the local police station, and eventually, they investigated and caught her associates red-handed along with the patients who were undergoing illegal abortions. Luckily, Phoebe managed to escape the police pursuit. But her unlucky break was that she was now a fugitive. Her associate accused her of being the mastermind and owner of the illegal abortion clinic.

Damn, damn, and damn!

All of this forced her to live hiding from one small inn to another to evade the authorities. She had to find a way to defend herself so she could escape legal consequences, but once again, nothing was easy. The evidence she thought she had destroyed back then resurfaced. Phoebe learned about it from someone she knew working in the police force, whom she extracted information from by selling her body again.

Gladwin! He was the source of her problems.

He paid former army personnel working as private investigators and handed over all the evidence of her wrongdoing to the authorities. It made Phoebe suffer and live a wretched life like this. And she couldn’t accept it. Because while she was suffering, he seemed happy with his life.

And that woman. The damned woman who never strayed from Gladwin’s embrace is back now. She looked so cheerful, happy, and… pregnant? Is she pregnant?

Phoebe observed the woman’s stomach, which despite being covered with wide cloth, still looked big. She was an obstetrician; she could differentiate between a pregnant woman and a woman who was just overweight.

Damn it! Again, damn it! What’s with this twist of fate? She should be the one happy over there. She should be the one in Gladwin’s embrace, laughing happily! Phoebe gripped the steering wheel tighter. She had to seek revenge.

She drove her car away from the orphanage. In her mind, scenes of revenge against her rival played out.

***

Flavia and Abigail left the café area at three in the afternoon. Flavia’s increasingly bulging stomach made her less mobile. Moreover, the ache in her lower back made her uncomfortable sitting too long.

Flavia’s pregnancy was now seven months along. A few days ago, they even held a pregnancy celebration at the orphanage with Gladwin’s extended family and her own large family.

It felt joyful to share with the less fortunate children there. Considering how she had been showered with so much love and luxury all this time, she tried her best to share what she had with them.

Exiting the café area, Flavia saw a burger vendor, and the scent of butter and meat made her inexplicably drool. She asked Abigail to take her to the burger stand and ordered a full meal, and that’s when it all happened.

Abigail called her name loudly, and a car came speeding towards them. Flavia didn’t know exactly how it happened. She was pulled so quickly, pushed backward so that the back of her body hit the car parked in the cafe’s parking lot, and as Flavia tried to clear her vision, everything looked painful before her.

An elderly man was thrown quite far from where he should have been standing with Abigail. Where was her friend?

“Via, are you okay?” Abigail? That was Abigail’s voice. Flavia turned and saw her friend trying to rise from the fall, looking at Flavia with surprise. Thankfully, that sentence came out of her mind just like that.

“Abby, the man?” Flavia immediately remembered the man lying on the asphalt road.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Abigail instantly got up, running and calling out the names of the employees she remembered, which wasn’t necessary because people were already crowding around, running around her, Abigail, and the old man who had crossed the street with her.

“Get the driver! If necessary, beat him!” Flavia heard someone shouting. But she didn’t know why because at that moment, all she felt was the pain spreading from her waist.

“Abby…” Flavia gasped suddenly. Her hand held the lower part of her stomach, which somehow felt sore as if her stomach was about to fall. Something from inside her seemed to want to come out. Flavia was sure of it. “Abby…” she called softly and then sat down on the asphalt. Abigail widened her eyes. She, who had initially wanted to help the man, now turned back towards Flavia.

“Via, what’s wrong?” Abigail asked in panic. Flavia’s face had turned pale, and the small woman’s hands now gripped Abigail’s clothes tightly.

“The baby…” she groaned softly.